Tesla Pays Off All $465M in Federal Loans 9 Years Early

Elon Musk at the unveiling of the Tesla Model S. Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired

Tesla haters just lost another quiver in their dwindling arsenal. The upstart electric automaker has paid off the entirety of its Department of Energy loan — a whopping $451.8M — and did it nine years ahead of schedule.

“I would like to thank the Department of Energy and the members of Congress and their staffs that worked hard to create the [Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing] program, and particularly the American taxpayer from whom these funds originate,” Tesla CEO and co-founder Elon Musk said in a statement. “I hope we did you proud.”

The repayment of the DoE loans comes just weeks after Tesla reported its first profit after 10 years in the car-making business. And thanks to a stock offering last week that raised $1 billion, it was able to repay the balance of its federal loans.

Tesla is also crowing about the fact that it’s the first American automaker that has fully paid back the feds through the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) program. But then again, Tesla didn’t take much compared to Ford ($5.9 billion) and Japanese automaker Nissan ($1.4 billion).

This payoff comes at particularly opportune time. Other clean energy initiatives and the companies the feds funded have been dropping like flies, with high-profile implosions like Solyndra and Fisker firing three-quarters of its staff after being stuck in limbo for the better part of a year.

U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz addressed this fact in conjunction with the Tesla announcement, saying, “When you’re talking about cutting-edge clean energy technologies, not every investment will succeed — but today’s repayment is the latest indication that the Energy Department’s portfolio of more than 30 loans is delivering big results for the American economy while costing far less than anticipated.”

But for Tesla, the game is just beginning. The Model S is selling well, with the automaker boosting its production estimates to 21,000 deliveries worldwide by the end of the year. Up next is the Model X SUV, based on the Model S platform, which has been slightly delayed until early 2014. And then there’s Tesla’s real goal: to create an affordable EV for the masses. That’s not coming for at least another two to three years, but work is assuredly well underway.

As for Musk, one of the stipulations in the DoE loans was that he would have to stick around as CEO until the company repaid the feds. But according to a Tesla spokeswoman, “Musk has no plans of leaving as CEO and has always intended to see the company through to its mass-market car.”